U.S. patent application number 10/644218 was filed with the patent office on 2005-02-24 for system and automate the licensing, re-use and royalties of authored content in derivative works.
Invention is credited to Blankley, David.
Application Number | 20050043960 10/644218 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34194035 |
Filed Date | 2005-02-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050043960 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Blankley, David |
February 24, 2005 |
System and automate the licensing, re-use and royalties of authored
content in derivative works
Abstract
A system and method which allows authors to automate the
licensing and distribution process to enable their works to be
safely included in derivative works, regardless of the
industry.
Inventors: |
Blankley, David; (New York,
NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Philip M. Weiss
Weiss & Weiss
310 Old Country Road
Garden City
NY
11530
US
|
Family ID: |
34194035 |
Appl. No.: |
10/644218 |
Filed: |
August 19, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/51 ; 705/500;
705/902 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 99/00 20130101;
G06Q 30/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/001 ;
705/500 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/60 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for creating derivative works comprising: connecting an
author to a content repository; sending meta data from said author
to said content repository; sending content from said author to
said content repository; connecting a collaborator to said content
repository; downloading said content from said author to said
collaborator from said content repository; connecting a final
uploader to said content repository; uploading aggregate content
and meta data from said final uploader to said content
repository.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: determining content
contributors and royalty allocations.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: notifying all
contributors regarding use of said content.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising; tracking what content
a user accesses.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising: collecting
subscription fees for said author from a user and logging activity
of said user to determine royalty allocation.
6. The method of claim 2 further comprising: billing all users on a
periodic basis based on use.
7. The method of claim 2 further comprising: determining
periodically royalties owed to each author and disbursing
funds.
8. The method of claim 2 further comprising: calculating said
royalties based on usage of each authors works.
9. The method of claim 2 further comprising: determining an
algorithm to allocate royalties.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein said algorithm varies based on
type of content being sold.
11. A system to automate licensing, reuse and royalties of author
content and derivative works comprising: a data base which allows
an author to upload content; said system organizing said content by
author, title of content, description of content or reuse
methodology.
12. The system of claim 11 further comprising information to
contact said author.
13. The system of claim 11 wherein said reuse methodology describes
how content can be used and fees entailed.
14. The system of claim 13 wherein said fee is selected from a flat
fee, royalty from direct user, royalty from final end work creator
or combination thereof.
15. The system of claim 14 wherein a user can aggregate works from
different authors, view said aggregate work and integrate said work
to create said derivative work.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein said derivative work is put into
said system which can be used as a further derivative work.
17. The system of claim 11 wherein said system provides logical
rules on how to use said content.
18. The system of claim 11 wherein said system provides said author
rules to use for said content and said author chooses said rules
and sends said rules back to said system.
19. The system of claim 18 wherein said rules includes fees.
20. The system of claim 11 wherein said system determines content
contributors and royalty allocations.
21. The system of claim 11 wherein said system informs said authors
of use of said content.
22. The system of claim 11 wherein said system logs activity of
users and determines royalty allocation for said authors.
23. The system of claim 11 wherein said system bills users
periodically and disburses funds to said authors.
24. The system of claim 11 wherein said system checks for duplicate
content, if duplicate content is found said system does not post
said duplicate content.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method which
allows authors to automate the licensing and distribution process
to enable their works to be safely included in derivative works,
regardless of the industry.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Most current digital royalty systems assume a cost per use
of digital assets fee structure. Other systems assume a fixed cost
over some subscription period for a collection of content and
disperse the royalties among the authors.
[0003] While effective at sales of single units to end consumers,
these methods do not allow for effective reuse of the content for
the production and redistribution of derivative works. For example,
a song writer may download music and set a song to it. However, in
order to re-distribute this work the writer must contact various
publishers, intermediaries, and artists before his song and the
music may be distributed together. This is clearly an expensive and
time-consuming process which detracts from the artist's time to do
what they do best: produce content.
[0004] Another example is the video game industry. Modem games have
multiple types of artistic content, such as models, textures, maps,
general image files, sound effects, etc. Game developers that have
already created the content may wish to leverage their existing
investment by making the content available to other developers to
re-use. However, the marketing and legal costs of this can quickly
make the proposition not cost effective. Other game developers may
wish to re-use this content in a Lego-block like fashion to produce
a derivative work, which could be significantly different than the
original proposal, but, as with song writers the expenses involved
and lack of streamlined process quickly detract from the
proposition's value.
[0005] U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,314,409, 5,933,498 and US Publication No.
2001/0021926 relate to a system for controlling access and
distribution of digital property. Portions of the data are
protected and rules concerning access rights to the data are
determined. A method is also provided for distributing data for
subsequent controlled use of the data.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,971 and US patent publication Nos.
2003/0069849 and 2001/0010045 relate to a system for controlling
the distribution and use of digital works using digital tickets. A
digital ticket is used to entitle the ticket holder to exercise
some usage right with respect to a digital work. Usage rights are
used to define how a digital work may be used or distributed. Each
usage right may specify a digital ticket which must be present
before the right may be exercised. Digital works are stored in
repositories which enforce a digital works usage rights. Each
repository has a generic ticket agent which punches tickets.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,646 relates to a system for uniquely and
persistently identifying, managing, and tracking digital objects.
Holders of rights in digital objects are enabled to control terms
and conditions under which they are accessed by users in a network,
or are granted by others.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,152 relates to a system and method for
managing copyrighted electronic media. Copyrighted electronic media
are packaged in a secure electronic format, and registered on
associated registration server, which serves to provide on-line
licensing and copyright management for that media. Users are
connected to the server to enable data transfers and to transact
licenses to utilize the media. Packaged electronic media are
typically created by an author or derivative user of the work. Once
the packaged media is registered on the server, the media is made
available for limited use and possible license through an
authorization server. The limited use is specified within the
minimum permissions data set assigned to each packaged media.
Without a license, users are typically permitted to view the
packaged media through a system which unpackages the media, but
cannot save or otherwise transfer the media without obtaining
auxiliary permissions to do so from the authorization server.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,403 relates to a system for controlling
the distribution and use of digital works having attached usage
rights where the usage rights are defined by a usage rights
grammar. The usage rights define how the individual digital work
may be used and distributed. Instances of usage rights are defined
using a flexible and extensible usage rights grammar. A right in
the usage rights grammar is a label associated with a predetermined
behavior and conditions to exercising the right.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,443 relates to a system for controlling
the distribution and use of composite digital works. A digital work
is comprised of a description part and a content part. The
description part contains control information for the composite
digital work. The content part stores the actual digital data
comprising the composite digital work. The description part is
logically organized in an acrylic structure. For a composite
digital work each node of the acrylic structure represents an
individual digital work or some distribution interest in the
composite digital work. A node in the acrylic structure is
comprised of an identifier of the individual work, usage rights for
the individual digital work and a pointer to the digital work.
Composite digital works are stored in repositories. A repository
has two primary operating modes, a server mode and a requester
mode. When operating in a server mode, the repository is responding
to requests to access digital works. When operating in requester
mode, the repository is requesting access to a digital work. A
repository will process each request to access a composite digital
work by examining the usage rights for each individual digital work
found in the description part of the composite digital work.
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,012 relates to a system for controlling
the distribution and use of digital works having a fee reporting
mechanism. Usage rights and fees are attached to digital works. The
usage rights define how the digital work may be used or further
distributed. The digital works and their usage rights and fees are
stored in repositories. The repositories control access to the
digital works. Upon determination that the exercise of a usage
rights requires a fee, the repository generates a fee reporting
transaction. Fee reporting is done to a credit server. The credit
server collects the fee information and periodically transmits it
to a billing clearinghouse.
[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,980 relates to a system for controlling
the distribution and use of digital works. The owner of a digital
work attaches usage rights to that work. Usage rights are granted
by the owner of a digital work to buyers of the digital work. The
usage rights define how a digital work may be used and further
distributed by the buyer. Each right has associated with it certain
optional specifications which outline the conditions and fees upon
which the right may be exercised. Digital works are stored in a
repository. Digital work playback devices, coupled to the
repository containing the work, are used to play, display or print
the work.
[0013] US Publication No. 2003/0115144 relates to a digital work
for use within a rights management system or controlling use of the
digital work in accordance with usage rights. The work is organized
into acyclic structure and includes a contents file including
information related to content that can be interpreted by an
interpreter, and a description tree file including descriptor
blocks organized in a hierarchical manner.
[0014] US Publication No. 2003/0046093 relates to a rights
management system. The apparatus can provide the core for license
repository and automated rights management services.
[0015] US Publication No. 2002/0178082 relates to a method and
apparatus for generating and distributing creative works. The
invention provides a cooperative auction means collecting funds for
payment for inducing a rightholder to donate rights in a piece of
intellectual property to the public domain.
[0016] US Publication No. 2002/0133465 relates to a usage rights
grammar and digital works having usage rights created with the
grammar. The usage rights specify a manner of use indicating one or
more stated purposes for which the digital work can be at least one
of used and distributed by an authorized party.
[0017] US Publication No. 2002/0128972 relates to digital works
having usage rights and method for creating the same. A digital
work is adapted for being distributed within a system for
controlling at least one of the distribution and use of digital
works. The digital work includes: digital content representing a
portion of a digital work suitable for being rendered by a
rendering device and usage rights associated with the digital
content.
[0018] US Publication No. 2003/0023561 relates to a system for
controlling the distribution and use of digital works using digital
tickets. A digital ticket entitles to ticket holder to exercise
some usage right with respect to a digital work. Digital works are
stored in repositories which enforce a digital works usage right.
Each repository has a generic ticket agent which punches the
ticket.
[0019] U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,498 relates to a system for controlling
access and distribution of digital property. Portions of the data
are protected and rules concerning access rights to the data are
determined. A method is provided for distributing data for
subsequent controlled use of those data. A device is provided for
controlling access to data having protected data portions and rules
concerning access rights to the data.
[0020] US Publication No. 2003/0028651 relates to a proprietary
information utility which includes an interface that provides
outside entities connection to the proprietary information utility.
A repository contains proprietary information. The repository is
compartmentalized by user identity and entitlement. A security
system limits access of each user connecting to the proprietary
information utility to proprietary information to which the user is
entitled. A billing system tracks usage of users of the proprietary
information utility for billing purposes.
[0021] U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,827,508 and 4,977,594 relate to a database
usage metering, billing and protection system and method. The
system includes a hardware device which is plugged into a computer
system bus and a software program system resident in the hardware
device. One or more databases are encrypted and stored on a
non-volatile mass storage device. A tamper-proof decrypting device
and associated controller decrypts selected portions of the stored
database and measures the quantity of information which is
decrypted. This measured quantity information is communicated to a
remote centralized billing facility and used to charge the user a
fee based on database usage.
[0022] US Publication No. 2003/0037253 relates to a digital rights
management system. The system relates to a software application
which provides means to control the interaction between a client's
computer and a remote server on which the invention and the
creative work of an author reside. The invention has a series
applets that selectively disable certain functions including, save
file, print file, download file, copy and save, contained in most
existing browsers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0023] The system of the present invention allows authors to
automate the licensing and distribution process to enable their
works to be safely included in derivative works, regardless of the
industry. In the process the present invention creates a "royalty
payment value chain" giving rise to a new collaborative content
creation environment allowing multiple authors to participate in
the generation of both new and derivative works in a manner which
ensures equitable financial participation.
[0024] The present invention relates to a system to automate
licensing, re-use, and royalties of author content and derivative
works which comprises a data base which allows an author to upload
content. The system organizes the content by author, title of
content, description of content, or re-use methodology. It is an
object of the present invention to provide information to contact
the original author. It is an object of the present invention for
the re-use methodology to describe how the content can be used and
what fees are entailed. It is an object of the present invention
for the fee to be selected from a flat fee, royalty from direct
user, royalty from final end work creator, or combination
thereof.
[0025] It is an object of the present invention to allow a user to
aggregate works from different authors, view the aggregate work and
integrate the work to create the derivative work. It is an object
of the present invention for the derivative work to be put into the
system and be used as a further derivative work. It is an object of
the present invention for the system to provide logical rules on
how to use the content.
[0026] It is an object of the present invention for the system to
provide the author with rules for use of the content and for the
author to choose the rules and send them back to the system. It is
an object of the present invention for the rules to include fees.
It is an object of the present invention for the system to
determine content contributors and royalty allocations. It is an
object of the present invention for the system to inform the
authors of use of their content. It is an object of the present
invention for the system to log activity of the users and determine
royalty allocation for the authors. It is an object of the present
invention for the system to bill users periodically and disperse
funds to the authors. It is an object of the present invention for
the system to check for duplicate content, and if the duplicate
content is found, then the system does not post the duplicate
content.
[0027] There are a variety of different industries in which the
present invention can be applied. Since several of the industries
are mature, and have established modes of operating, there can be
differences in the implementation. A good example of this is to
juxtapose the Video Game and Movie industry examples.
[0028] It is an object of the present invention to provide the
system and method to the Video Game Industry. It is an object of
the present invention to allow a video game artist to upload his
collection of textures on to the upload server of the present
invention. It is an object of the present invention to allow the
user to provide their name description and re-use methodology for
their work as well as other meta data, such as whether the person
may be contacted by other authors.
[0029] It is an object of the present invention for the re-use
methodology to describe how other content creators may use the
content, and the fees entailed. It is an object of the present
invention for this list to include a list of creators that may use
the content, may not use the content, whether the creator wants a
flat fee, a royalty from any direct users, a royalty from the final
end work creator or any combination thereof.
[0030] It is an object of the present invention to provide a system
and method to allow a game designer a way to aggregate all the
components available for re-use, view the new textures and decide
whether to integrate them into their project. It is an object of
the present invention to allow a game designer to include works of
other artists in derivative works, and the original creator of the
work will automatically generate revenue from the results of the
derivative work.
[0031] It is an object of the present invention for the finished
project to be made available on the system of the present
invention. The system of the present invention can be a service
which can take one of several common business forms, such as a
simple download service, a publishing business aggregating it's
authors, or an online subscription service which pays out royalties
to authors as a percentage of revenue.
[0032] It is an object of the present invention for authors to
generate revenue from a system which enables loosely coupled
artists to collaborate in a non-compulsory fashion.
[0033] It is an object of the present invention to provide a system
that allows an, "Author", "Collaborator" and "Final Uploader" to
interact with the system. It is an object of the present invention
to provide logic rules for how to deal with the meta data, and
storage capacity.
[0034] It is an object of the present invention to connect an
author to a content repository. It is an object of the present
invention to send meta data from the author to the content
repository. It is an object of the present invention to send
content from the author to the content repository. It is an object
of the present invention to allow a collaborator or to connect to
the content repository. It is an object of the present invention to
allow a collaborator to download content from the content
repository.
[0035] It is an object of the present invention to allow a final
uploader to connect to the content repository. It is an object of
the present invention for a final uploader to upload aggregate
content and meta data to the content repository. It is an object of
the present invention for the system of the present invention to
determine content contributors and royalty allocations. It is an
object of the present invention to inform all contributors
regarding the use of their content. It is an object of the present
invention to make available the new content to consumers.
[0036] Is an object of the present invention for a user to connect
to the system and for the system to track what content the user
accesses. It is an object of the present invention for the system
to collect subscription fees for the publisher from the user and to
log the activity of the user to determine the royalty
allocation.
[0037] It is an object of the present invention for the billing
node to access all accounts due to be billed. For each account the
users credit card is used. If a users account is past due, the user
is denied access to the system.
[0038] It is an object of the present invention for the system to
periodically determine royalties owed to each author and disburse
the funds. It is an object of the present invention for the system
to calculate the royalties based on the usage of each authors
works. It is an object of the present invention for the publisher
running the service, to determine an algorithm to be used to
allocate royalties. This algorithm can vary based on the business
needs of the publisher and type of content being sold. It is an
object of the present invention for the publisher to set a minimum
threshold usage amount before any revenues are due.
[0039] It is an object of the present invention to allow a user to
post his content along with a brief description of what the content
is about and set the licensing rules to allow commercial reuse. It
is an object of the present invention for the system to make sure
that the content being provided by the user does not match existing
content on the system. If existing content is found the new content
will not be uploaded to the system.
[0040] It is an object of the present invention to allow a user to
search the system for descriptions of the content. It is an object
of the present invention for the system to record the search by the
user.
[0041] It is an object of the present invention to allow a user to
upload their software library along with architectural and usage
documentation to the system of the present invention. It is an
object of the present invention for the user to add descriptive
information as well as categorizing the product, and including
licensing fees.
[0042] It is an object of the present invention to allow a user to
pay a fixed unlimited usage fee, rather than a royalty licensing
price.
[0043] It is an object of the present invention to allow a user who
has searched the system to provide ratings concerning the content
they have searched.
[0044] It is an object of the present invention to provide a script
licensing service. Scripts would be available online, with the
licensing terms clearly outlined. It is an object of the present
invention to allow a user to "option" the script. It is an object
of the present invention for the script writer to set a price for
optioning the script. At this point, the buyer would pay a fee to
the script writer and the script would be made unavailable to
others.
[0045] It is an object of the present invention for the system to
allow other script writers the opportunity to develop a script that
utilizes characters or settings from another writer's work.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0046] Process Overview:
EXAMPLE 1
The Video Game Industry
[0047] Rocco, a video game artist developing textures on a
freelance basis, uploads his new collection of textures to the
Upload Server. When uploading, Rocco provides a name, description
and re-use methodology for his textures, as well as other meta
data, such as whether he may be contacted by other authors.
[0048] The re-use methodology describes how other content creators
may use his content, and the fees entailed. This would include a
lists of creators that may use the content, may not use the
content, whether Rocco wants a flat fee, a royalty from any direct
users, a royalty from the final end work creator or any combination
thereof.
[0049] Yanni, a game designer who has a clear vision of how to
aggregate all the components available for re-use sees Rocco's new
textures and decides to integrate them into his project. Rocco's
work, along with the work of other artists, will now be included in
Yanni's derivative work, and Rocco will automatically generate
revenue from the results of Yanni's project.
[0050] Yanni, finishes his project, and makes it available on the
service. The service can take one of several common business forms,
such as a simple download service, a publishing business
aggregating it's authors, or an online subscription service which
pays out royalties to authors as a percentage of revenue.
[0051] Now, Yanni, Rocco, and other authors are all generating
revenue from a system which has enabled loosely coupled artists
(Yanni, Rocco, et al) to collaborate in a non-compulsory
fashion.
[0052] A complete example process and system implementation are
outlined in the following diagrams.
[0053] Phase 1:
[0054] This first diagram is a sequence diagram that depicts how
three authors, "Author", "Collaborator" and "Final Uploader"
interact with the system, in this case an online server with logic
rules for how to deal with the meta data, and storage capacity.
EXAMPLE 2
The Music Industry
[0055] In the music industry there are many types of artists who
need to collaborate to create content. For instance, song writers,
musicians and singers all provide unique content towards the
integrated final product.
[0056] Doug is a freelance song writer who would like to get his
songs seen by more musicians and singers. He posts his song to the
service, and provides a brief description of what the song is
about. He also sets the licensing rules to allow commercial re-use
with a 5% of revenue fee.
[0057] The system checks to make sure that the song does not match
an existing song in storage, and then stores the song and time of
upload.
[0058] Kristina is a singer who is looking for an exciting new song
to sing. She goes onto the service and skims the song descriptions.
She looks at a couple of songs, and her review of the songs is
recorded as a record should she try to take aspects of them.
Finally, she finds Doug's song and immediately falls in love with
it. She starts practicing the song and produces a version of the
song.
[0059] From this point she can sell the song through regular
industry channels, making sure she pays Doug the appropriate share
of the revenue. Should she choose to fail to pay, there is a record
of her downloading the song from the service, and agreeing to the
licensing terms.
EXAMPLE 3
Software Development
[0060] Much of modem software development is done by using
libraries and components that have been implemented by third
parties. Currently, developers must either make their components
freely available through some kind of freeware mechanism, or find
sufficient funds to market their product through retail
channels.
[0061] By making their libraries available to a service through
which more complicated licensing arrangements than simple sale of a
product can provide, it enables developers to more effectively
leverage the development and sale of re-usable components.
[0062] Dan, a software engineer, writes a graphing library for an
application he is working on. He sees potential for the graphing
library to be re-usable in many different applications that other
developers will create. So Dan uploads his library, along with
architectural and usage documention, to the service. When uploading
he is prompted to add some descriptive information, as well as
categorizing the product, and including information about licensing
fees.
[0063] Jane, another software engineer, is working on a marketing
application which needs graphs. She goes on the service and finds
Dan's library. Since it will be more cost effective for her, she
opts to pay the fixed unlimited usage fee, rather than the royalty
licensing price. She purchases the product through the service,
which then pays Dan.
[0064] Jane then utilizes Dan's library to significantly cut her
time to completion while increasing the reliability of her
product.
[0065] Pleased with the results of using Dan's library, Jane goes
back on the service and gives Dan's library a high rating, and
writes a raving endorsement for his library.
[0066] Based on Jane's praises, several other developers use Dan's
library, and Dan soon finds himself earning additional income from
his graphing library that he needed regardless.
[0067] Jane then decides that she can effectively earn income by
making her marketing application available on the service. Since it
is an end product, that is fee based, rather than royalty based,
she marks the product as such when uploading it. Now, others cannot
make derivative works with this technology, however, they can use
it. As users purchase Jane's product, the service looks at the
underlying libraries, Jane's license to them, and accordingly
credits the accounts of the underlying library developers, and
deducts that amount from Jane's final payment.
EXAMPLE 4
The Movie Industry
[0068] The movie industry is another industry where multiple people
work together collaboratively to create artistic content.
[0069] An example service in this space would provide a script
licensing service. Scripts would be available online, with the
licensing terms clearly outlined. An added twist, unique to the
movie industry, would be the ability to "option" the script. For
example, the script writer would set a price for optioning the
script. At this point, the buyer would pay a fee to the script
writer and the script would be made unavailable to others.
[0070] Another use would be to allow other script writers the
opportunity to develop a script that utilizes characters or
settings from another writer's work.
[0071] Jeremy, a college student taking a script writing class,
decides to upload a script he wrote for an assignment to the
service. He checks off a low royalty rate, and also checks the box
allowing other writers the opportunity to re-use the characters and
setting of his script. Michael Moviemaker reads Jeremy's script and
decides to make a movie from it.
[0072] However, Michael does not want others to be able to develop
the brand. He contacts Jeremy through the service. Jeremy agrees to
Michael's requests, and edits his licensing terms to suit. Michael
then elects to develop the script, and it is made unavailable to
other subscribers.
EXAMPLE 5
E-Learning
[0073] E-learning curriculums and Intelligent Tutoring Systems
involve the development of expert systems and knowledge bases which
are used to teach students. An example service in this space would
allow collaborators to contribute and create tutorials, expert
systems and knowledge bases for an e-learning application.
[0074] For example, fitness experts Adrienne and Patti
independently produce a series of tutorials for an exercise regime
and upload it to the e-learning tutorial creation service,
specifying additional meta data such as licensing terms.
[0075] Marc, a producer of exercise tutorials, likes the tutorial
work developed by Adrienne and Patti. He accepts the licensing
terms of both tutorials and aggregates them into a single new
tutorial that he distributes.
[0076] The exercise tutorials are a great success, allowing both
Adrienne and Patti to retire off the proceeds, and millions of
Americans to learn proper exercise technique.
* * * * *